For more than two weeks, at least 300 detainees at the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, have been on a hunger and labor strike. They report horrific conditions at the privately operated 1,000-bed facility, including spoiled food, inadequate medical care, and poor living conditions. Some detainees allege physical abuse by guards, including beatings and pepper spray attacks by a riot squad, which sent several to the hospital. The strikers demand a meeting with New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill to urge the immediate release of all detainees. In response, the Department of Homeland Security has partially restored family visitation and released pregnant detainees. Meanwhile, protests outside Delaney Hall have escalated into violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have used batons, pepper spray, and stun guns against protesters, journalists, and even a US senator. Federal authorities arrested demonstrators for allegedly assaulting officers, and Sherrill deployed state police, leading to over 60 arrests in one night. ICE officers abruptly transferred Martin Soto, a detainee held in solitary confinement as a suspected strike leader.
According to Jessica Ordaz, a historian and professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and author of The Shadow of El Centro: A History of Migrant Incarceration and Solidarity, Soto’s story and the strike fit into a long history of immigrant incarceration and resistance. Strikes have also been reported at other facilities in New Mexico and California, where detainees protest water quality, mold, and lack of medical care.
Historical Patterns of Abuse and Resistance
“The conditions we are seeing today have been present for generations,” said Ordaz. “And there have always been protests from inside, but it’s the same narrative, and the system of immigration control hasn’t been curtailed.” Ordaz explained that the policing of migration became institutionalized with anti-immigrant laws targeting Chinese immigrants along the US-Mexico border in the 1800s. At El Centro detention center, which began as a processing camp in 1945, the use of undocumented Mexican labor to build the prison itself exemplifies the forced labor thread that continues today. Detainees were threatened with loss of jobs, food, deportation, or physical harm. In some facilities, workers are paid just two cents for their labor.
Early Forms of Protest
Escaping was the earliest form of protest. In the 1940s, detainees taken to border areas for cleanup or maintenance often escaped successfully due to proximity to the border. By the 1960s, protests included petitions, hunger strikes, and legal advocacy. This coincided with prison uprisings and civil unrest across the US in the 1970s.
Hunger Strikes and Food as Punishment
At El Centro, the Bracero program brought millions of Mexican men on short-term work contracts. Food became a major grievance: detainees were fed burritos, which were not traditional for many, and had to pay for low-quality, low-nutrient food that often made them sick. Food is still used as punishment today.
Conditions and Resistance
“It’s always been that bad,” Ordaz said. Detainees often risk their lives to bring attention to conditions, sometimes turning to suicide or self-harm. Historically, some demands have been met—like shade at El Centro—but overall, conditions have regressed. “Anyone who’s been to the Imperial Valley knows it’s utterly hot. At peak heat, they were corralled outdoors with no shade. They got shade, but some were deported, transferred, or hospitalized with severe wounds. That was the success.”
Multi-Tactic Approach and Solidarity
Ordaz emphasized that change requires solidarity between inside and outside activists. “Powers that be don’t bend unless pressured from outside.” Successful strategies include working with politicians, sit-ins, and coalition-building across organizations. While systemic change is slow, activism can secure individual releases and reduce ICE resources.
Broader Patterns
Ordaz urged looking beyond the present focus. “Abolishing ICE doesn’t resolve everything, because ICE has existed only a short time. We must consider the role of empire: the US has recruited migrants and caused displacement worldwide. We need to ask why people migrate to address the roots of detention abuse.”
